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Wednesday, February 06, 2008

The Land Down Under

I've been tagged by blogger pal, Ottavio, who writes a fine blog American Interests from his home in Melbourne, Australia. So, here goes:

123 Meme

Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages), open the book to page 123, find the fifth sentence, post the next three sentences and tag five people.

"To the consternation even of some formerly devoted admirers, this included Pol Pot, who had slaughtered one-third or more of his own people in setting up a Communist regime in Cambodia. As a result of all this, Chomsky, too, like Buchanan, was increasingly relegated to the margins and largely forgotten. After 9/11, however, and unlike Buchanan, Chomsky found a newly receptive audience and one bigger than ever."

That is from World War IV, written by Norman Podhoretz. The chapter was about isolationism both on the right and the left sides of the political landscape.

Blogger Ottavio posted on his country's former Prime Minister, John Howard, recently. He passed on the information that Howard was selected to receive the Irving Kristol Award for 2008 from the American Enterprise Institute in D.C. Howard will receive the award at the annual dinner on March 5, 2008.

I am a huge fan of Mr. Howard. He has been a steadfast friend to the U.S., especially in the war on terrorism. According to the AEI press release, "When asked by an interviewer about the Iraq war, he said, "I am not going to be part of a policy which leaves the job unfinished and leaves behind to one or two other countries the responsibility of completing the job; that is not the Australian way of doing things."

"Howard's parents chose "Winston" as his middle name in honor of Winston Churchill. Howard's political defeat in 2007 after a long and successful service was reminiscent of the great British leader's defeat after World War II. Like Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan before him, Howard has a strong commitment to the Anglosphere alliance."

Mr. Howard is deserving of this recognition. I'd like for the news to be more widely distributed.

I won't tag anyone. I may not even have 5 readers left that I haven't ticked off with my recent election opinions. C'est la vie.

Today would have been Ronald Reagan's 97th birthday. He would have cheered Mr. Howard on, too. He must be looking down on his Republican party these days, shaking his head in disbelief of all the nonsense.

Today would have been Ronald Reagan's 97th birthday. He would have cheered Mr. Howard on, too. He must be looking down on his Republican party these days, shaking his head in disbelief of all the nonsense.

A lot of us still alive are shaking our heads in disbelief at the nonsense.

Agreed, I loved Howard.. the only one with cojones enough to tell the Islamists adapt to Aussie society or get out.

And I also agree... Reagan probably is shaking his head in disbelief... I still can't believe that the likes of Colter et al would rather vote for Hillary than Mccain. I don't love him, but he is immeasurably preferable to Hill or Obama! And when I post my feelings about this whole situation, I might be down to zippo readers, as well. :-)

I saw the book/123 thing. I tried to put it out of my thoughts but I couldn't. I finally just had to give in so it would leave my brain.

"What about the sanitation and medical facilities? What about the surveying equipment, the stepladders, the theodolites and the rest? And anyway, when we think about it, the boots of the 500 men would trample the lines underfoot, destroying them as they moved around."

Karen, your recent piercing work on au currant 'electile dysfunction' shouldn't cost you any friends (that turn off the radio thing you did was universal!) - friends don't always agree - they don't have to - they're friends.

And YOUR friends know your heart is always in the right place. If you ever want to tag someone - pick me! Pick me!